Let’s face the facts: we are seen as experts. Customers expect answers from us, usually immediate answers. How tempting it can be to make them happy! Armed with our expensive, high-tech tools, it is all too easy to forget we can’t always come up with those answers.

I’ve been working on a project this past week with a couple of young people. I’m impressed with two things. First, they have more energy than I have. Second, I have more experience than they have. While energy is great, relying on experience often means I know how to do things “smarter,” using less energy. […]

Some problems don’t necessarily “shout” at you. The increase in temperature of this surge protection device in a substation is only a few degrees warmer than normal. Seeing the signature required adjusting the imager skillfully. Understanding the device could fail at any moment required additional background knowledge and clear […]

Reports are an essential part of our work. The professional standards I mentioned last week give good guidance on what that report should look like, at a minimum. Manufacturers like Fluke have done a superb job of developing report writing software that not only makes life simple but also produces great looking reports.